Parents urged to get children immunised

Herald Reporter
Special Advisor to the President on Health Matters, Dr Timothy Stamps, is calling on parents to take steps urgently to ensure that all children are assessed and immunised against pneumonia to help reduce childhood deaths.
Dr Stamps made the call during commemorations to mark the World Pneumonia and Prematurity Day in Harare last week. He said Zimbabwean children were succumbing to viral, bacterial and fungal pneumonia due to a combination of factors that included HIV, measles infection, malnutrition, indoor air pollution and exposure to cigarette smoke.

“It is our duty as parents, communities and health professionals to prevent pneumonia by ensuring that children receive proper nutrition and that they receive vaccinations at the correct times,” he said.

“We are strongly saying, let us be a nation that breast feeds our babies and be a nation that learns to recognise the symptoms and signs of pneumonia and that seeks help at the centres early.”

Dr Stamps advised parents and health-care givers to work closely to improve primary health care.
“Primary health care starts in the communities and therefore inter relationships amongst District and Provincial hospitals is vital,” he said.

“Our health professionals should be able to triage babies and offer appropriate treatment timeously to our children.”
Professor Rose Kambarami of the Pediatric Association of Zimbabwe and country director of Maternal and Child Health Integrated Programme said for the country to achieve its Millennium Development Goals it should prioritise efforts to curb prematurity and pneumonia death.

“The attainment of MDG4 will remain elusive if our efforts are not re-doubled in the fight against childhood deaths,” she said.
“Newborns are vulnerable and need rapid and effective care during the time of delivery and a few days after delivery. Premature babies are more vulnerable and the risk of dying is very high if adequate care and support is not provided.”

Health experts said prematurity contributed about 30 percent of child deaths in the first 28 days of life.
They also said that three million babies die each year and the majority of deaths could be prevented using low technology and low cost interventions.

Globally, pneumonia claims about 1,2 million lives each year in children under the age of five. Over 90 percent of these deaths are in sub-Saharan Africa.

The World Prematurity and World Pneumonia Day was launched in November 2011.